


Through the Darkness

by undeniableconjecutre (orphan_account)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Manipulation, Possessive Behavior, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Romance, Self-Discovery, Surprise Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2017-12-13 16:02:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/undeniableconjecutre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard McCoy was well-apt at defeating metaphorical demons. What he never expected was to tame them. Or to fall in love with a psychotic homicidal maniac.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Being the Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise was more romanticized than people would expect. Not many people came in and everything was usually handled by what McCoy ‘affectionately’ referred to as his lackeys. So, usually, he was fairly bored all the time.

As the results for Khan’s medical test were coming in and Jim was off ‘captaining’ (which McCoy never believed to be the case unless there was a crisis), he traversed the halls of the ship aimlessly, trying to ease his boredom. Uhura was fairly busy nowadays with relationship troubles, and Scotty was kicked out of the ship all thanks to Jim’s excellent captaining, leaving him with no one to relay his troubles to or bounce insults off of.

Without meaning to, he inadvertently found himself heading towards where the prisoner was held. That man gave McCoy the creeps, with his menacing glare and yet somehow soft expressions. He was almost like a child in a man’s body, except McCoy knew what damage he could do- something a snot-nosed brat would be incapable of even imagining.

And yet, there he was, coming up to his cell and standing before him. Harrison was sitting down, hands folded neatly in his lap as he kept his demeanor straight and alert, almost as if he were awaiting orders. When he finally noticed McCoy, he couldn’t help but look slightly surprised. Of course, McCoy himself was more than slightly surprised. Why the hell was he visiting a prisoner?

“Why are you here?” Harrison asked, not getting up.

Oh great, now he had to come up with a convincing answer. “I need another sample,” he said quickly. Yes, that was perfectly reasonable.

“Ah, well, where is the syringe?” he stood up, coming up to the glass and pulling back his sleeve.

Shit. “Shit, I left it back at the sick bay,” McCoy sighed, looking in the direction of the exit. But as much as he knew he should leave, there was a part of him that wanted to stay and not do anything except banter. He turned back to the prisoner. “Well, whatever. It’ll save us time if you tell us what’s in it.”

“I think I would prefer that to be revealed to you rather than explained, Doctor,” Harrison replied.

McCoy frowned, rolling his eyes. He had enough snarky bastards to deal with on his ship. “Well, you know what they say- give a man your blood and he’s busy for a few hours, tell a man what’s in your blood and he saves himself a few hours.”

Harrison blink a few times with an odd expression McCoy was all too familiar with- confusion. “That… makes absolutely no sense,” he finally managed to say, furrowing his brows and cocking his head.

“Yeah, well-“ McCoy never intended on explaining himself and was most likely going to respond with another metaphor, when his comlink began to buzz. There were only five people with his number and either one of them could be important. Without bothering to say a goodbye, McCoy spun on his heels and left the man alone.

He would never dare admit that he actually had a bit of fun with that 2-second conversation. After all, you can’t have fun with a criminal, right?

* * *

 

Khan let out a sigh, watching as the doctor left him alone once again. As much as he loathed all these humans on the ship with their feeble minds and incapable hands, Dr. McCoy (as he overheard one of the officers address him as) was the only one on the ship who even remotely treated him like a human.

For the next thirty minutes, Khan tried thinking of an adequate comeback to an odd metaphor like that. He found the perfect one, when the next visitors arrived- neither of them being McCoy.

As much as he tried not to admit it, he rather missed the doctor. It was all too lucky for him to have to be transferred to the medical bay after the fiasco with Marcus’ ship arriving, but in between the trouble, he found a small moment of peace with McCoy.

They were lounging about, waiting for some news to arrive, as he sat quietly on the bed and McCoy swiveled impatiently in his chair. After a few seconds of silence between them, Khan found it appropriate to ask, “What do you require from my blood?”

McCoy looked at him, almost staring at him but not in the way everyone else was- there it was again, that small quality he possessed that made him feel less and less like a genetic freak of nature. “Why do you want to know?”

Well, there was a question that had no true answer. “Simply curious,” Khan shrugged.

“Yeah, well, you know what curiosity did to the cat,” McCoy grumbled, mainly to himself. Khan was unfamiliar with this proverb and was about to ask about it when he continued to speak. “Then again, that cat sounds like a weirdo- I mean, cats just sit and do nothing, don’t they?”

Khan had no idea how or even _why_ they were speaking about cats now, but the casual conversation was something he had no desire to end, and he ended up revealing more about himself than intended. “I had a cat. It was quite energetic and playful; used to keep me company during long missions or my resting periods.”

He could see the befuddled look on the doctor’s face and bit back a laugh at how he contorted his mouth, looking at Khan in disbelief. He was quite the expressive man.

It took all his energy not to respond in a similar manner at his next words. “Back in the South, I had a dog. Well, key word being _had-_ wife even took that mangy mutt in the divorce, even though they hated each other.”

Against all odds, Khan felt himself feeling sympathetic towards this man he hardly knew, nodding as he spoke. “Perhaps she wished to cause you anger.” For that was what he was feeling after McCoy spoke.

“If she wanted to make me angry, she should’ve stayed,” McCoy replied bitterly, and before Khan could respond (with what- he had no idea), a nurse requested the doctor’s presence, and once again, he left without a goodbye.

Khan gave a sad sigh and stared at his lap, hoping the doctor would return soon. He rather enjoyed their small talk.

* * *

 

In between the action and the fighting going on in the bridge, McCoy focused on working with the blood sample he’d received from the prisoner- Khan or whatever his real name was. They hadn’t spoken since the minor incident involving the cat proverb- which McCoy had no idea why he had brought up his wife at all, or why he hadn’t shut up after the man asked about his blood.

They were sitting similar to the way they had earlier, and McCoy just about had it with Khan staring at him from afar. “Why are you staring at me?” McCoy looked up from his microscope and glared at the opposing man. “Can’t you, I don’t know, have a staring contest with the floor or something?”

The man remained silent, blinking for a few moments and reverted back to staring. McCoy sighed exasperatedly, returning to the microscope as he silently wished that someone- anyone- would attack them so he wouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense.

Barely a minute later Khan spoke. “I don’t think it is possible to have a staring contest with an inanimate object.”

Without thinking, McCoy gave a chuckle at his words. The guy was like an overly-smart infant or something. “I don’t literally mean a staring contest. I meant that you could look at something else instead of me.”

“Oh,” Khan nodded, pursing his lips slightly. “Well, what you’re doing is highly more enticing than anything else in this room.” The way he said it made it sound like a compliment rather than the honest truth: that there was really nothing else to look at. “Tell me, Doctor, what have you found in my blood?”

“What is your obsession with your blood?” McCoy asked, raising a brow and shaking his head.

“Well, you’re the one who implied it was important when you showed up at my cell without a syringe,” Khan replied.

Damn- he remembered. “Yes, well,” he shrugged, looking up at Khan and trying to put on his poker face. “I just found… stuff.”

“Stuff?” Khan asked.

“Yeah, stuff like… hemoglobin and… shit.” Immediately after he said those words, he regretted them- it was more stupid for him to lie than to have told the truth. Then again, he probably already knew the truth himself.

But his mind focused on something else when he realized Khan was _chuckling_. McCoy gave him an odd look as Khan regained his breath. “Yes, of course,” he gave a sly smile, “hemoglobin and shit. Obviously my blood is filled with feces- or, at least, Captain Kirk seems to believe that.”

Even though he knew he shouldn’t, McCoy replied, “Then again, Jim would probably be unable to tell the difference between the hemoglobin and shit.”

That earned another laugh from Khan (to McCoy’s inner pleasure). But despite how much Jim hated Khan, there was the point that no one other than Spock and the med crew understood his science jokes, and none of them laughed. It was nice to have an audience, but McCoy still did his best to stifle his smirk. After all, he shouldn’t be fraternizing with a possible enemy.

“You have a rather amiable sense of humor, Dr. McCoy, and you are good company,” Khan gave a warm smile as McCoy awkwardly cleared his throat, pleased with the compliment.

“It’s not just my humor,” he said, “but the object of it. Jim is a goddamn idiot- well, I knew him at his worst, so I guess that’s why.”

Khan gave a rather understanding nod. “We tend to view those closest to us with less respect, until we arrive at the person we truly love and they have our highest.”

McCoy chuckled mildly. “Yeah, I suppose so. But really, he is insane. Sometimes, he’d just have us orbit the Earth a few times for ‘maintenance runs’, just so he could sit on the chair and order us around. The number of times I’ve seen the Grand Canyon from space, my god…”

That earned him another laugh from Khan, and before he knew it, McCoy started feeling some sense of friendship with the man- despite the fact that he was regarded as an intergalactic terrorist. But Jim had done far stupider things, right?

“Our missions were much less… exciting,” Khan said sarcastically. “We would go on actual maintenance runs. I was actually the Chief of Sciences on our ship.”

“Huh. I would’ve guessed you’d the Captain or something,” McCoy replied, no longer looking at the blood as Khan had gained his full attention.

Khan shook his head, but McCoy knew he felt complimented. “No, though I had a friendly relationship with our Captain. I hardly knew our Chief of Medical, but if he was even half as humorous as you are, I suppose I would not have minded getting injured.”

McCoy cleared his throat again, trying his hardest not to seem too pleased. “Yeah, well I’m just about the funniest guy on this ship.”

“I wouldn’t deny that.”

McCoy gave another eye roll. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“What about telling the truth?”

Before he could come up with a proper response (something along the lines of “What?”), Jim arrived at sick bay, and McCoy knew something was going to happen. He returned to his work immediately- this time, he felt rather bad for not saying goodbye properly.

* * *

 

Khan didn’t know the procedures of the Enterprise, but when one of the nurses called him back to perform a quick medical exam- much to Kirk’s dismay- he didn’t think it was mandatory to do it in private and with the Chief of Medical.

But there he was, properly alone with McCoy once again as he did a minor test of reflexes, and took another small sample of blood. He remained professional throughout all the procedures, but when he was finished, instead of returning him to the Captain, he handed him a small device.

“It’s a comlink,” McCoy explained. “I put my number on it, so just press that button there and you can call me.”

“Why are you giving this to me?” Khan asked, not understanding if this was a gesture of friendship or a professional decision- or even an attempt at controlling him forced upon by the captain.

“Jim gets a bit eccentric during missions,” he explained, “and I don’t want you getting lost. If anything happens- here or on Marcus’ ship- I’ll call you or you call me, alright?”

Khan thought for a moment, reviewing his plans. He was going to kill everyone he deemed inferior to his kind and that included everyone on the Enterprise. But, as much as he needed to do this, he found himself rather… sentimental.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he didn’t want McCoy to die along with the rest of the crew. That was absurd, though- he was a human, neither entirely intelligent nor strong, and yet he felt a connection with him. But, like all humans, he had to die.

When he did destroy the Enterprise, he would mourn at least one person. But he sacrifice of his small, puny life would mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, right?

Or was it?

* * *

When Spock Prime began retelling the tale of the insane things Khan Prime had done, McCoy could not believe it- except for some reason, he could. But the man he’d met with and spoken to in sick bay and had talked to about cats and bad metaphors could not possibly have been the same man that killed Spock Prime and all those other people.

The moment he was able to, McCoy left the bridge and headed straight for the bathrooms, trying to avoid anyone he knew. Once he was satisfied no one had followed him, he immediately picked up his comlink and called Khan.

It took a few seconds, but the man finally picked up. “ _Doctor McCoy?_ ”

“Yeah, who else?” McCoy grumbled. “Is Jim there?”

“ _No. As you said would happen, we have been separated._ ” Something about his tone made McCoy think Khan wasn’t telling the full story, but he had more pressing matters to deal with.

“What’s your plan?” he asked sternly.

“ _I have no idea what you mean._ ”

“Like hell you don’t- listen, Harrison, Khan, whatever the fuck I’m supposed to call you- listen to me.”

“ _Doctor-_ “

“Shut up and listen. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t. Don’t do it- you don’t have to do it, nor should you do it. It’s fucking stupid and wrong, that’s what it is.”

“ _Doctor, I-_ “

“I’m not done!” McCoy gave a heavy sigh. How was he supposed to convince a man who was practically programed to hate and kill to change his ways? “Remember your cat?”

“… _My cat?_ ” Judging by his response, Khan didn’t know why he was mentioning it. Good.

“Yeah, your cat; the same cat you kept with you throughout all those missions- the one who was ‘energetic’ and ‘playful’? The insane and weird-ass one? Yeah, remember him?”

Khan didn’t respond, and McCoy took that as consent to keep speaking. “That cat was your friend- in a manner of speaking. Now, I do think that all cats are homicidal maniacs, but my point is that would you kill your cat?”

It took a few seconds for Khan to reply. “ _No I would not…_ ”

“Then consider this ship like your cat. If you just follow along- I can claim you’re mentally unstable and I can probably keep you on the Enterprise until you’re more… stable, I suppose, but just don’t do it. Okay?”

McCoy heard some rustling in the background, then suddenly, “ _I’m sorry, Doctor._ ”

“Fucking- Khan!” McCoy kept talking, but it was too late- he’d hung up. Taking a deep breath and washing his face. He waited for his heart rate to stabilize before heading back to the bridge.

He tried not to think about hoe he was the only one hoping that Khan was safe. He also tried not to think about how messed up he was for thinking that.

It didn't stop him from thinking it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Georgia, 2232_

He was standing outside the park, McCoy remembered- though this was back when he was known as Leonard rather than his surname. It was a hot day, and yet the man had been wearing a dark jacket with black trousers, standing by the lamppost and staring at the children playing around.

Leonard felt uncomfortable with him around, like something was off about him. Abandoning his playmates, he confronted him. “What’re you doing here?”

The man turned to face him with a rather uncouth smile. “Just biding my time.”

“Until what?” Leonard crossed his arms, trying to appear older and more demeaning than he was. At this, the mystery man gave a quiet chuckle.

“Oh, you’ll see in about a second,” he said, leaning against the post and turning casually to the street. Unnerved, Leonard stood his ground beside the man, waiting to see what he was referring to. It did only take a second afterwards for the police to arrive and arrest the man for numerous counts of manslaughter.

Leonard had watched as the man calmly greeted the officers, holding out his hands and allowing them to take him in. Throughout the whole ordeal, he had been smiling.

That was McCoy’s first encounter with a ‘demon’. It wouldn’t be his last.

* * *

Khan should have expected it; not everyone was as accommodating as McCoy about intergalactic terrorists, now were they? Had their roles been reversed, however, Khan would have done something much worse than a simple stun.

Mr. Scott stood above him, but he hadn’t noticed that Khan was stirring. His eyes were focused on the scene before him regarding Admiral Marcus and Captain Kirk.

Despite how the Admiral had treated him, he had to admire his cunning. Most people would find themselves feeling guilty or ashamed by using someone’s family as an ultimatum, but then again not everyone was interested in having an all-out war between the Federation and the Klingons, now were they?

He listened as Marcus slowly began to manipulate Kirk’s thoughts, trying to find a way to be the only one left alive. Khan couldn’t let that happen.

He could go out there and kill Marcus himself, continue with his plan of destroying the Enterprise and awakening his crew to begin their dangerous reign of the annihilation of all species that were lesser than their own. After all, that was their point of creation- and he could finally have his family back.

But the only thing stopping him was McCoy. He truly believed- or, wanted to believe, that Khan could change and instead of fighting, help his friends escape somehow. And Khan had never had that kind of reinforcement before. Someone was concerned not for the well-being of the mission, but his own as well. Someone who treated him like his crew had before. Someone who didn’t think of him as a madman waiting to blow.

He knew he couldn’t go through with his original plan, but he had the next best thing. Carefully, he gently tapped the leg of Mr. Scott, hoping no one else noticed him.

“Shoot him,” he whispered.

Mr. Scott, thankfully, was the only one who heard him. He looked down and poised his gun at Khan, prepared to shoot. “I’m not shooting Jim.”

“I’m not talking about the Captain,” Khan gave an exasperated sigh. Why were humans idiots? “I’m talking about Marcus. Shoot _him_.”

“It’s Jim’s job to do that,” he said sternly.

“And look at him- Marcus is toying with him, waiting to make a swift getaway. If Kirk does not act now- which he won’t- then all of us will die.”

He furrowed his brows, still skeptical but Khan could see the cogs in his mind beginning to form around his words. He continued speaking. “You don’t have to kill him. Though there are many flaws within your justice system, I believe it will rightfully convict him of his crimes. There are plenty of witnesses to testify against his atrocities.”

Mr. Scott turned from Khan and to Marcus, not knowing what he should do. Khan rolled his eyes again- humans, the insufferable lot. Why could none of them act reasonably? Then again, had McCoy acted reasonably, he himself would not be making this decision to talk instead of acting.

Finally, Mr. Scott responded. “If I look away and shoot him, what guarantees that you won’t run off and overtake us all?”

Khan gave a mild chuckle. “Believe me, I could do that right now if I wanted to.”

He didn’t respond to that.

* * *

The bridge was waiting with batted breath for a simple message from the enemy ship, ensuring that their comrades were safe. McCoy had gone through several scenarios on what could possibly happen- none of them pleasing him.

  1. Marcus, the bastard, had killed them all and was going to kill everyone else.
  2. Khan went through his crazy plan and had killed Jim, and was going to kill everyone else.
  3. Jim had either killed or apprehended Marcus and Khan, and no one else was going to die.



All in all, there was no way he could have his cake and eat it too. Jim and Khan were conflicting forces, and he knew that only one man would come out the winner in their dogfight.

Jim was right- he needed to tone down on the metaphors.

Taking a deep breath, he shifted in his position, watching Spock who seemed as anxious (if not more) than himself at how the situation was playing out.

“Think they’re alright?” he asked, knowing that Spock would assume he was talking about only Scotty and Jim, not Khan.

“Logically speaking, no,” was Spock’s curt reply, which simply made both of them feel worse.

His heart almost leapt out of his chest when the screen blinked on and he tried to ignore how far it fell when he saw Jim staring back at him, flashing his usual cheeky grin.

“You’re alive,” he replied almost bitterly, but everyone knew that he was genuinely pleased.

Jim nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“What is the situation there, captain?” Spock asked, jumping straight to business as usual. Though normally he’d tune out until something of interest was said, McCoy was fully interested in this conversation.

“Well, we have neutralized the crew of the USS _Vengeance_ and the captain of the vessel, Marcus,” Jim said. “Mr. Scott is preparing to have the _Enterprise_ be able to tag along this ship so we can all safely land.”

“What will be done with Admiral Marcus?” Spock asked.

“Well, I…” Jim looked away for a second before returning to the screen. “I guess we could have a trial. I mean, he did threaten to kill us and he falsified information and, you know, some more illegal stuff so… so I think we should do that.”

Spock didn’t reply immediately, almost as if he wanted to interrupt, but instead he nodded.  “I agree that that would be the best course of action. What about Khan?”

There it was. McCoy did his best not to appear too interested, though it hardly mattered- everyone else was listening in as well.

Jim gave a heavy sigh. “Khan…. He sorta saved my life. But he did kill people. We’ll just do what we planned to do earlier and have him stand trial.”

“I’m sorry to say that I strongly disagree to this, captain,” Spock replied. “Khan Noonien Singh should be returned to cyro-sleep as soon as possible. He is a threat to everyone aboard this ship and they should all be returned to wherever they came from.”

Jim furrowed his brows. “Spock, what do you mean?”

And Spock began to explain how and why he came to that conclusion. By the end, Jim was shaking his head. “Spock, I know you mean well- this is probably very rough for you, since you’re the one having to see this man go free. But this is a different universe, and he might not do what he did before. We should give him a chance.”

Although McCoy was sympathetic towards Khan, he could definitely understand why Spock didn’t want to ever see his face again- were he in that situation, he wouldn’t have given a second thought and have had the man killed on the spot. Which is why he tensed when Spock turned to him and asked, “What do you think, Dr. McCoy?”

He took a deep breath, looking from Jim to Spock, contemplating on his answer. “I think… I never thought I’d say this, but Jim is right. Maybe in this universe he’s different. I can give him a psychological evaluation, see if that’ll help.”

McCoy pointedly avoided Spock’s gaze as Jim nodded. “See to it, Bones. I’m having Marcus also beamed to the _Enterprise_ \- just keep him sedated and unconscious until we reach Earth.”

He quickly walked out of the bridge and went for sick bay, trying not to second-guess his decision. He really hoped it was the right one. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Lisa, who made [this](http://karlurbann.tumblr.com/post/52447664303/leonard-mccoy-was-well-apt-at-defeating) awesome cover.

The second demon Leonard McCoy had dealt with was alcohol- the mystical drink which healed as much as it destroyed. It was his comfort when the going got rough, or when the nights were too lonely for his tastes.

But the problem was that he knew alcohol was a killer- he’d seen his own mother consumed by the beast and how it spat out her bones and left her to rot. And yet, he kept drinking.

There was just something about it that he couldn’t quit. A dangerous addiction.

* * *

“Captain,” Jim heard Spock come up from behind him, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. He gave a heavy sigh. It had barely been a few minutes after he’d made the decision to keep Khan alive to stand trial, before bringing Spock on board the  _Vengeance_  to help tow the  _Enterprise_  down to Earth.

“What is it, Spock? I’m trying to work for once,” he replied curtly, trying to get away from Spock but he would not budge.

“Captain, you cannot allow Khan to remain alive,” Spock said. “It is more likely than not that he will revert to his manic ways and try to eliminate all life forms he deems inferior.”

Jim sighed- the decision itself was hard enough, and the fact that Spock was forcing him to second-guess it was even worse. But the most terrifying fact was that he could actually see the fear and anger in Spock’s eyes.

Spock was calm, controlled; no emotion managed to break out into the surface unless something was definitely off (like, maybe his planet blowing up and his mother dying). Seeing him compromised like that over a decision Jim had made himself made him feel guilty.

“If we kill him without mercy, we’re just as bad as him,” Jim knew this wasn’t the best of arguments, but he couldn’t bring himself to think of a better one.

“We could be avoiding potential destruction,” Spock retaliated.

“We could have been doing that earlier when Marcus made us go after him, but _you_ said we shouldn’t because of regulation- and now you’re telling me to do the complete opposite!” He felt horrible for saying this to Spock, but with everyone looking up to him and relying on him to fix things, all he can do is try and make him feel as though he’s reliable. But is he really?

Spock gave him an unreadable look, opening his mouth in protest before closing it, shaking his head disapprovingly. “It was not the right decision to-“

“Mr. Spock, report to the bridge and overlook the operations, please,” Jim began to walk away. “That’s an order,” he added, though he knew Spock wouldn’t press the situation once he’d been ordered away.

When he was sure Spock had gone, Jim gave an exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples. Whoever said being a captain of their own ship was a fun and exciting responsibility was probably the most idiotic person in the universe.

Of course, Jim had believed those words with all his heart, so he was probably the bigger idiot. He sure felt like it.

* * *

“Why?” was the first thing out of Khan’s mouth when he was taken in for a private examination by McCoy, who’d rolled his eyes as he flashed his medical device.

“Nice to see you too,” he grumbled, almost scoffing. “How was the trip?”

“As you can very well see, I didn’t kill anyone,” Khan replied, trying not to fidget as he was poked and prodded, clearly annoyed by the procedure. McCoy was annoyed giving it.

“Harder than it looks, isn’t it?” McCoy replied humorously, putting the tools away before managing a small smile on his face. Despite the severity of the situation, he didn’t feel that downed as usual. “I’m proud of you, kid.”

“Technically speaking, I am older than you and therefore should not be referred to as a ‘kid’,” Khan replied curtly, but he could tell there was a hint of a smile. “Besides, there was always the chance that I would not have taken your advice and continued with my own plan.”

“But you didn’t,” McCoy said.

“But I could have.”

“But you didn’t, so shut the fuck up.”

“You do tend to swear a lot,” Khan stated matter-of-factually.

McCoy rolled his eyes again. “Yes, I fucking do. Though I’d imagine someone like you would swear a lot, too.”

Khan gave a slight chuckle but no reply, so McCoy continued speaking, pulling out a holo-pad and opening up a few documents. “Now, I’m going to perform a psychological evaluation. We’ll start off with simple word association, then ask you some simple questions, before showing you a few pictures and you’ll describe what you see, okay?”

“What is the purpose of this?” Khan asked, seeming bored.

“To see if you’re mentally unstable,” he replied.

“And if I am?”

“Then we’ve been blessed with good luck.”

Khan raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

McCoy sighed, pointedly ignoring Khan. “Alright, let’s begin: Name?”

“Khan.”

“Life?”

“Death.”

“Family?”

“Crew.”

“Happiness?”

“Unattained.”

“Government?”

“Corrupt.”

“Time?”

“Wasted.”

“Mission?”

“Kill.”

“Break?”

“Skull?”

“Weak?”

“Dead.”

“Strong?”

“Alive.”

“Anger?”

“Fear.”

The last one confused McCoy, for why would someone who seemed to show so much controlled anger relate it to fear? He decided to press on the point.

“Fear?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“… Space?”

“Travel.”

“Day?”

“Sun.”

“Night?”

“Stars.”

“Cat?”

“Cat?” Khan gave him a confused look, and McCoy chuckled. He was about to ask a real question, when Nurse Chapel entered the room.

“Yeah, what?” McCoy asked curtly, slightly annoyed by the interruption, though he knew he shouldn’t be.

“Commander Spock is requesting your presence at the bridge, sir,” she said, nervously eyeing Khan.

With a groan, McCoy stood up and headed up to the bridge, once again not saying goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

McCoy never considered that he and Spock were ever actually ‘friends’. Perhaps ‘work colleagues’ or ‘mutual acquaintances’ but they never exactly got along- unless the subject was the immense stupidity of one James T. Kirk. In that respect, they were closer than two peas in a pod.

That is, until McCoy went with Jim’s stupid idea, leaving Spock alone and baffled.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked in a gruff voice as he entered Spock’s quarters, which were surprisingly neat and tidy, much like the man himself.

“Yes, doctor,” Spock said, putting down his pad and turning to face McCoy directly in the eyes. As if it were some sort of symbolic form of manliness, McCoy glared at him in return.

After a few minutes of silence, Spock finally asked the big question: “Why did you allow Khan Noonien Singh to live?”

McCoy gave a small sigh, not averting his gaze. There was no way he could tell the truth (because he barely knew why he’d done it in the first place), and he couldn’t exactly admit to how sympathetic he felt towards a man openly declared a terrorist.

“I don’t need to tell you anything,” he curtly responded, crossing his arms.

A small frown appeared on Spock’s face, and McCoy felt a small pang of personal satisfaction from having caused some form of emotion to appear on Spock. But it was quickly replaced by a futile attempt at a neutral expression as he began speaking. “Doctor McCoy, you know as well as I that he is a threat to the entire universe. His very mission was to destroy all inferior life forms, and he has demonstrated that by killing dozens of Starfleet officials- including the late Christopher Pike. In the alternate universe, he killed me and plunged both you and the captain into despair and-“

McCoy couldn’t handle it, the rant of useless information Spock was simply repeating from the bridge. “You’re angry,” he said quickly, before the Vulcan could continue.

“I am not angry,” Spock replied in a voice that clearly stated otherwise. “I am simply-“

“Spock, listen to me!” McCoy’s voice had taken on a rough and demanding tone, stopping Spock in his tracks. “Listen, you pointy-eared bastard, we’ve already established that you can feel emotions, despite your stupid attempts at saying otherwise. Now, you’re just being hypocritical about Khan, saying to execute him without a trail after you were the first person to suggest he get a trial!”

He took a deep breath before continuing, “It’s your own fault you’ve wound up in this mess, and so stop trying to blame me or Jim, and let me get back to my godforsaken work.” Without even waiting to be dismissed or to hear Spock’s rebuttal, McCoy stormed out of the room.

He knew fully well that he’d made an enemy out of Spock, but he wouldn’t take back his words. This whole mess could have been avoided if he hadn’t suggested for a trial- or, if Markus hadn’t awakened Khan in the first place.

“No use in crying now,” he mumbled, returning to sick bay.

* * *

Nurse Chapel had finished his psychological evaluation (with fear and mild distaste), and Khan had been transported to one of the empty quarters rather than the brig. After all, he wasn’t exactly ‘dangerous’, was he?

It was rather upsetting not to be in the medical bay and near McCoy anymore, but what was more upsetting was that he hadn’t bothered to even visit. Then again, he was under no obligation to. But then, he was also under no obligation to give Khan a comlink, or try to stop him from being executed, but he’d done it anyway, hadn’t he?

Doctor McCoy was a strange man, Khan decided, pacing around the room he was trapped in. Guards had been posted outside his door to prevent him from escaping, but it wasn’t as if he had anywhere to go outside of the Enterprise. He was alone now.

A few moments later, the door to his room opened. For one split second, Khan thought it was McCoy coming to check up on him and he quickly turned to face him, trying to hide his relief behind an expressionless mask, but then he saw who’d _actually_ entered the room.

“Mr. Scott,” he greeted coldly, ignoring the strange sinking feeling in his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I uh,” Mr. Scott cleared his throat, as if wondering the same thing. “I came to say thank you.

“Thank you?” Khan repeated, his brows furrowed in confusion. “For what?”

“For saving my life, and Jim’s,” he said, looking around the room absently, before looking back at Khan. “And I came to, uh, apologize for stunning you. Under orders, you see.”

It took Khan a few seconds to understand the symbolism and the true meaning behind the apology, though he didn’t exactly care about Mr. Scott and whatever reason he had for doubting the 'evilness' in himself. “I see... I accept your apology, Mr. Scott, and your thanks.”

Mr. Scott nodded, giving a forced smile. He remained in the room for a few more moments, each as awkward as the one before, with the two of them simply looking at each other until he finally stepped out, leaving Khan alone once again.

He gave a heavy sigh, returning to his pacing and wondering what the outcome of his test would be.


	5. Chapter 5

McCoy never considered that he and Spock were ever actually ‘friends’. Perhaps ‘work colleagues’ or ‘mutual acquaintances’ but they never exactly got along- unless the subject was the immense stupidity of one James T. Kirk. In that respect, they were closer than two peas in a pod.

That is, until McCoy went with Jim’s stupid idea, leaving Spock alone and baffled.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked in a gruff voice as he entered Spock’s quarters, which were surprisingly neat and tidy, much like the man himself.

“Yes, doctor,” Spock said, putting down his pad and turning to face McCoy directly in the eyes. As if it were some sort of symbolic form of manliness, McCoy glared at him in return.

After a few minutes of silence, Spock finally asked the big question: “Why did you allow Khan Noonien Singh to live?”

McCoy gave a small sigh, not averting his gaze. There was no way he could tell the truth (because he barely knew why he’d done it in the first place), and he couldn’t exactly admit to how sympathetic he felt towards a man openly declared a terrorist.

“I don’t need to tell you anything,” he curtly responded, crossing his arms.

A small frown appeared on Spock’s face, and McCoy felt a small pang of personal satisfaction from having caused some form of emotion to appear on Spock’s face. But it was quickly replaced by a futile attempt at a neutral expression as he began speaking. “Doctor McCoy, you know as well as I that he is a threat to the entire universe. His very mission was to destroy all inferior life forms, and he has demonstrated that by killing dozens of Starfleet officials- including the late Christopher Pike. In the alternate universe, he killed me and plunged both you and the captain into despair and-“

McCoy couldn’t handle it, the rant of useless information Spock was simply repeating from the bridge. “You’re angry,” he said quickly, before the Vulcan could continue.

“I am not angry,” Spock replied in a voice that clearly stated otherwise. “I am simply-“

“Spock, listen to me!” McCoy’s voice had taken on a rough and demanding tone, stopping Spock in his tracks. “Listen, you pointy-eared bastard, we’ve already established that you can feel emotions, despite your stupid attempts at saying otherwise. Now, you’re just being hypocritical about Khan, saying to execute him without a trail after you were the first person to suggest he get a trial!”

He took a deep breath before continuing, “It’s your own fault you’ve wound up in this mess, and so stop trying to blame me or Jim, and let me get back to my godforsaken work.” Without even waiting to be dismissed or to hear Spock’s rebuttal, McCoy stormed out of the room.

He knew fully well that he’d made an enemy out of Spock, but he wouldn’t take back his words. This whole mess could have been avoided if he hadn’t suggested for a trial- or, if Markus hadn’t awakened Khan in the first place.

“No use in crying now,” he mumbled, returning to the medbay.

* * *

Nurse Chapel had finished his psychological evaluation (with fear and mild distaste), and Khan had been transported to one of the empty quarters rather than the brig. After all, he wasn’t exactly ‘dangerous’, was he?

It was rather upsetting not to be in the medbay and near McCoy anymore, but what was more upsetting was that he hadn’t bothered to even visit. Then again, he was under no obligation to. But then, he was also under no obligation to give Khan a comlink, or try to stop him from being executed, but he’d done it anyway, hadn’t he?

Doctor McCoy was a strange man, Khan decided, pacing around the room he was trapped in. Guards had been posted outside his door to prevent him from escaping, but it wasn’t as if he had anywhere to go outside of the Enterprise. He was alone now.

A few moments later, the door to his room opened. For one split second, Khan thought it was McCoy coming to check up on him and he quickly turned to face him, trying to hide his relief behind an expressionless mask, but then he saw who’d _actually_ entered the room.

“Mr. Scott,” he greeted coldly, ignoring the strange sinking feeling in his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I uh,” Mr. Scott cleared his throat, as if wondering the same thing. “I came to say thank you.

“Thank you?” Khan repeated, his brows furrowed in confusion. “For what?”

“For saving my life, and Jim’s,” he said, looking around the room absently, before looking back at khan. “And I came to, uh, apologize for stunning you. Under orders, you see.”

It took Khan a few seconds to understand the symbolism and the true meaning behind the apology, though he didn’t exactly care about Mr. Scott. “I see. I accept your apology, Mr. Scott, and your thanks.”

Mr. Scott nodded, giving a forced smile. He remained in the room for a few more moments, each as awkward as the one before, with the two of them simply looking at each other before he stepped out, leaving Khan alone once again.

He gave a heavy sigh, returning to his pacing and wondering what the outcome of his test would be.


	6. Chapter 6

When McCoy returned to sick bay, he did his best not to spit venom on any of his patients. As he looked over the injuries of the majority of the Engineering Deck, he continuously looked over behind himself, as if expecting someone to be there. He didn’t realize what he was doing until someone asked, “What is wrong, Doctor?”

“What?” he turned back around and faced a boy he considered to be too young to even belong near a starship, much less on it an as a Ensign- Pavel Chekov.

“You were looking behind you,” he pointed out in heavily accented Russian, which mildly annoyed McCoy for it always took him a while to mentally translate whatever the hell he was saying into proper English. “I was simply wondering if you wanted to talk about it.”

“I’m not much of a talker, kid,” McCoy shrugged, pressing a hypospray to Chekov’s neck. “Now, make sure you don’t start flailing around all over the place. All hands on deck, or so I’m told.”

Chekov nodded, but didn’t get off the bed. “In Russia, they say it is poisonous to keep emotions locked up within yourself. I am willing to listen, Doctor.”

McCoy rolled his eyes. “Just let it go, alright? I don’t want to talk.”

“But-” Chekov tried to speak again, only to be shot down by a stern glare from McCoy. He let out a soft sigh and slid off the bed, headed back to the bridge. McCoy watched him go, feeling a tad bit sympathetic towards him. He was barely seventeen, already the Chief Navigations Officer within one of the craziest ships in the Federation, with an assload of responsibilities because Jim had no fucking clue as to what he was doing. It was sad, really, to see someone so young getting so old so quickly.

Then again, hadn’t that happened to him?

With a shake of his head, he went on to the next patient, trying to keep his mind focused on the job and not on the million-and-one problems he and everyone else on the ship had.

* * *

 

Carol never exactly considered herself to be dependent on her father, for he had never been exactly present during most of her life, always off on missions and exploring the stars while she was left to care for her mother alone. But he always came back, always bringing a smile to her mother’s face, and Carol found that she couldn’t stay mad at him.

But this- what he did this time, _this_ was unforgiveable.

It wasn’t hard to get on the brig, seeing as how Kirk had plenty on his plate and Spock was left managing the ship, and she soon found herself standing before the cell of her father.

Marcus was sitting on the bed, a satisfied look on his face as he closed his eyes and leaned back. The very sight of him made Carol clench her fists in anger, though outwardly she did her best to stem it. She waited a few moments, debating whether or not to confront him.

Before she could make a proper decision, Marcus opened his eyes and looked over at her. For a split second, she could have sworn there was a flicker of something- remorse, regret, _something_ \- across his face, but it was gone as quick as it came.

“Come to see your old man, have you?” he asked with a false sense of humor.

“You’re no father of mine,” Carol spat before she could stop herself.

Marcus sighed, slowly standing and stepping towards her so they were face to face. “I don’t regret what I did, Carol,” he said, “and soon, you’ll see why.”

“What do you mean?”

He didn’t reply, simply staring at her quietly. “You really are like your mother, aren’t you? Same ferocity, same intelligence... though she would’ve agreed with me. _She_ wouldn’t have betrayed me.”

“ _I_ betrayed you?” Carol scoffed, hands clenched tighter, her nails digging into the skin of her palm. “You betrayed everything you were supposed to stand for!”

“And what was that?” he asked in a blasé tone, only furthering her anger.

She took a deep breath, trying to control herself and not to do anything she would regret. It took her a few seconds, before she said quietly, “Peace. You were supposed to protect the peace.” With those words, she quickly walked away, not daring to look back.

* * *

 

“Sir, there’s a problem in the inventory,” said one of the security team. Scotty looked up from his holopad with a concerned frown.

“What do you mean, laddie?” he asked. “Has a phaser been stolen?”

The man- Jameson, according to his nametag- shook his head, handing him the report. “No sir, but… one of the communicators was missing.”

“Then go and use the tracker and find it,” Scotty sighed, shaking his head. These new recruits had no idea what to do, did they? He began to walk off when Jameson stopped him again.

“I did, sir,” he insisted. “And… it’s, um…”

Scotty let out a groan. “Spit it out, we haven’t got all day!”

“It’s in the prisoner’s quarters,” he said quietly.

That was enough to rouse Scotty’s attention. He looked around cautiously, making sure no one was present before asking in an undertone, “Have you told anyone else this?”

Jameson quickly shook his head. “N- no sir… Should I?”

Scotty gave him a look, biting back a scathing remark. “If anyone asks, I gave it to him, understand? Now get back to work!”

Jameson nodded, quickly fleeing the vicinity. Scotty ran a hand though his hair and frowned quietly, bringing up his holopad again and searching through the logs, trying to determine who would give the convict a communicator when everyone suspected that he would betray them. Who thought otherwise?

“Guess I’ll have to pay him another visit…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the lateness- life is a terrible creature. But next chapter shall feature Scotty and Khan interacting, and we'll see what Jim's been up to.


End file.
